The Image staff muses on the culture of keeping up appearances

Rodeo Drive spins the Ferris wheel for Fashion's Night Out

In a bid to establish Rodeo Drive as the West Coast hub of the global one-night shopping spree known as Fashion's Night Out (FNO), organizers are re-inventing the wheel -- the Ferris wheel.

We've just learned that a replica of the George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. invention (which made its debut at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893) will be erected on the 200
block of North Rodeo Drive for the Sept. 10 event, and used to entice shoppers into opening their wallets.

Apparently, all you'll need to do is show a receipt proving that you've made a purchase at a Rodeo Drive merchant that evening, and you (and a friend) will be whisked up into the sky on the carnival contraption.

The Rodeo Drive Committee tells us nearly 50 of the street's luxury retailers are on board for the fashion-focused fete, including Chanel, Gucci, Giorgio Armani, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Valentino, and that in addition to the spinning wheel, the evening's festivities will include extended shopping hours, cocktail parties and other assorted in-store events.

And if organizers decide to round out the evening's carnival atmosphere by sending in some well-dressed clowns, we think we know just the place to find them.

Photo: A May 1893 file photo of the original Ferris wheel unveiled during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. A modern version, erected on the 200 block of North Rodeo Drive, will be the centerpiece of that street's efforts to attract shoppers during the sophomore outing of the global Fashion's Night Out retail spree. Credit: Associated Press